Subtleties
by Amarthame
Summary: Little regrets, little annoyances, and the little things that make it all so very worth it. A small collection of ZADR drabbles.


**Series: **Invader Zim

**Pairing(s): **ZADR (aka Zim/Dib)

**Summary: **Little regrets, little annoyances, and the little things that make it all so very worth it.

**Disclaimer: **Invader Zim and all related characters, etc. are the property of Nickelodeon.

**Other Notes: **Just a bunch of ZADR drabbles that came to me all at once. Technically finished, but I very well could add more to this if I ever think of more that fit here. Beware, they're not beta'd. Reviews highly appreciated, especially the critical kind!

**------**

"Zim," Dib had asked once while looking around the Irken's lab, "What the hell is this?"

"Hmm?" Zim looked up from his work and focused his eyes on the object Dib had found, sitting neglected on a keyboard connected to a monitor never used anymore. "Oh, those are my germ-finding goggles." He smirked at the memory of his victory over the little invaders, not noticing Dib put the goggles on over his glasses and flicking the switch on.

Dib looked left, then right, then blinked, unimpressed. "I think they're broken. Everything looks the same."

"Of course it does, Dib-beast. What did you expect?"

"But I can't see any germs."

"Of _course_ you can't! They were no match for the great Zim!"

"You mean you... But that's impossible!" exclaimed Dib incredulously, removing the goggles and giving Zim a disbelieving look.

Zim grinned victoriously. "You are impressed, no?"

_(Word count: 148)_

***

Valentine's Day never quite appealed to Dib, after spending years and years of his life hardly receiving anything for the occasion. Not a single girl—or guy, as his preferences might have it—that he was interested in seemed interested enough in him to grace his skool desk with a heart-shaped steak or a sausage or what have you.

Similarly, ever since Zim's first Valentine's Day, the holiday left a bad taste in his mouth and a crawling in his skin. So much meat in one place, with its rancid stench making his antennae press against his scalp and never want to let go. The incident with Tak never quite left his mind, either, which only served to add insult among insult among insult to the injury.

All things considered, it was hardly surprising that neither of them remembered the holiday until GIR nearly blew up the kitchen making heart-shaped waffles.

_(Word count: 153)_

***

Having been infused with the whole of Irken knowledge at birth, the first time Zim saw the far-away stars he could identify three of the nearby clusters offhand and he wondered about whether or not he'd get to conquer anything near those particular stars. The giant, gassy masses in the sky held no wonders for him because he knew that there was no vast unknown out there waiting to be explored; there was only the Irken Empire, and the future of the Empire beyond that.

The first time Dib saw the stars, he was but an infant, and since that moment he wondered—mostly aloud, as was his method—about what could possibly be out there. All those stars, all that potential for life, all that potential for discovery and all that beauty. The stars were beautiful, white pinpricks in the sky like tiny angels, nurturing life and love in their respective star systems.

Zim never could fully understand Dib's immense fascination with the stars, especially after he told the human so many stories about what lay there just a few billion light years away. There was no mystique left after Zim had explained everything.

And yet, Zim never minded taking Dib to the outer reaches of Earth's solar system to stargaze. That little "wow" Dib breathed at the sight was enough to make the Irken smile, even if he would never comprehend just what it meant.

_(Word count: 238)_

***

Dib once asked Zim why he still called him all those derogatory little names even after years without trying to kill each other.

"On my planet," Zim had said solemnly as he followed Dib into what was now their base and slipped off his disguise, "Words like that are terms of endearment."

"Endearment," Dib repeated disbelievingly. "Irkens call each other stink-beasts to show endearment?"

"Is that not normal?"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Yes," replied Zim with an amused, toothy grin, "Of course I am, human." He pointed at Dib accusingly, "But you believed it, yes? Zim has fooled you!"

Dib rolled his eyes, letting the alien enjoy his little victory. Years of being together had done wonders for Zim's wit, it seemed.

_(Word count: 124)_

***

Kissing Dib never ceased to be an exhilarating experience. The human was so passionate, so forceful, just like Zim himself, and yet so gentle, reminding the alien of the differences between them. When mouths opened and tongues met, the separate and yet so very similar passions burning within both the Irken and the human spread between them and collided, burning hotter and brighter and filling the space with their chaotic, perfect unity.

But despite that, it took Zim a while to get used to not flinching at the burn of water in his mouth. At first, he cursed Dib's tongue for secreting such a vile liquor, but Dib was quick to point out that there was little he could do about it short of washing his own mouth out with paste.

So Zim simply preferred to think of it as taking something extra from the kiss; an extra fire burning within his mouth as tongues collided, igniting the passion more and more and more.

_(Word count: 164)_

***

Zim frowned at the television screen as the end of the movie came about. It was an ordinary Earth movie, filled with stupid humor and sickeningly romantic. On the screen, the sun had just begun to set and the main character of the movie, some muscular man with white teeth and a careless smirk on his face, took the hand of his wife-to-be and the two laced their fingers together as they gazed into each other's eyes.

The hand-holding wasn't a ritual the Irken understood. Hands alone could hardly convey as much of what humans called "love" as other parts of the body could.

But as the credits rolled, Zim couldn't help but stare down at his own hand with its curious three fingers and its pointed claws. Steeling a glance at the Dib's pale, five-fingered hand lying on the couch beside him—the human had long since fallen asleep—Zim found himself wishing that such hand-holding wasn't so awkward with such a drastic difference in the number of fingers between him and his mate.

_(Word count: 180)_

***

"You know, Zim, there's a lot you never saw of Earth. I mean, you can't just stay in one stinkin' city and judge the whole planet based only on that," the human pointed out.

"Silence, Dib, you know I never intended to stay on this filthy dirt-planet forever," snapped Zim.

"I'm just saying that you could just stay long enough to see places outside of an inner city skool and a fast food restaurant, that's all."

"I have seen more than enough of your disgusting human planet. Do you intend to change my mind about leaving, Dib-stink?" the Irken asked almost amusedly.

"Not really," sighed Dib somewhat sadly, leaning back against a wall as he watched the alien climb into the Voot Cruiser.

"Then come on already, we should have left hours ago! Zim has much to show you!"

_(Word count: 141)_


End file.
